One-time successful businessman, Patrick Kuhse, was asked to come and share his mishaps and trials with the UT students in the College of Business. This event took place in the University Center Auditorium on Feb. 27 from 5:15 p.m.-6:30 p.m. It was sponsored by Beta Alpha Psi, UT's accounting fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi, UT's business fraternity, as well as UT's Department of Accounting. The event was free and open to the public. It drew not a crowd of interested business students, teachers, faculty, staff and other Knoxville citizens.

Patrick Kuhse was born and raised on moderate means in a small farming town in Iowa. He attended Arizona State University until he was asked to leave due to a lack of commitment and failure to show productivity. However, after leaving the school, he still managed to make a name of himself in the business world. After seeing the luxuries provided by money, Kuhse spent the next 10 years on a determined and unending path to wealth. His journey is the reason behind his speeches and the cause of his present career. 

Kuhse entitled his speech "Why Smart People Do Such Dumb Things," which was delivered to inspire and protect the next generation of businessmen and women from taking his own path to "self-destruction." He did this with a system he referred to as the "eight critical thinking errors" which he slowly developed, by default, during his years in prison and over his many hours of community service. He applied these thinking errors to his own life, starting from college to when he hit rock bottom, spending four years as an international fugitive before turning himself in and spending six years as prisoner in Southern California.

From 1980 to the early 1990s, Kuhse managed to marry, have two boys, obtain a career with The Wall Street Journal, become a government contractor for the state of Oklahoma and become a millionaire by illegally buying and selling state bonds. After having this scheme uncovered by another state employee, Kuhse ran away to Costa Rica. By 1994, Kuhse was charged with 32 felony offenses including conspiracy and bribery. After about three years spent as an international fugitive, Kuhse turned himself in to the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica. After his extradition, Kuhse spent six years in federal prison. While in prison, Kuhse spent his time finishing his education and received his degree in 2000. He missed his graduation, however, because he was not released until 2001.

After his release from prison, Kuhse spent a lot of his community service speaking to people about his past and slowly started to realize his new calling.

"I loved this," Kuhse said, in response to inspiring others to do right.

He then started delivering speeches on moral and ethical values and the consequences of ignoring them. His main point made in his speech, aside from learning business ethics and right from wrong is, "Follow your passion; don't follow the money."

Kuhse now has his own company, which supports kids of all ages in areas such as receiving an education and preventing "white collar" crimes including plagiarism. He is now currently working in conjunction with the Public Broadcasting System in hopes of creating television programs that inspire and support moral and ethical values in children.